Post by Bullshop on Nov 12, 2017 9:11:48 GMT -7
In Montana in the hunting unit I live in a deer A tag allows me either sex WT or either sex mule deer. We are then allowed several deer B tags that allow only antlerless WT. I try for a large buck with my A tag because we get a bit more meat than from a doe but nearing the end of season I will take what ever comes to fill the tag.
I do most of my deer hunting from The Reapers Roost that I have in the past posted pictures of and so called because I shoot chuck all summer from this tree stand that is maybe 25 yards from my front door. The very sturdy stand is in a very large cottonwood tree and has a shooting bench complete with sand bags for making precise shots on chucks to the max distance I have steel plate sighter targets set at 878 yards. Shooting chucks all summer from the reapers roost is kind of the proving ground for rifles, loads, and ballistic data for precise sight corrections.
The early fall has had me testing loads from a fairly newly acquired rifle I purchased from an estate. It is built on a 1909 Mauser 98 with a semi heavy 27" barrel of unknown make chambered for the 6mm-06 with a 1/10" twist rifling pitch. Of all the calibers and chamberings I have used in my fur hunting over the years this has become a favorite. I would prefer a slightly faster twist rate but I can live with 1/10".
A long time favorite 6mm bullet for barrels with 9 to 10" twist is the Hornady 100gn SBT interlock. For a standard non premium bullet this one is tough and has always given very good penetration when used on game as large as elk and at the same time is not too destructive for hide hunting. This 100gn bullet has enough mass to utilize the very slow surplus powders when coupled with a case large enough to house an adequate volume to get respectable velocities . The 6mm-06 case is large enough and the 27" barrel of this rifle is long enough to take full advantage of the very affordable surplus powder in this case WC-870 from Jeff Bartlett at about $70.00 per 8 pound keg. The charge that takes a little vibrating to get into the case and still have room to seat a bullet is 63gn WC-870 with a magnum primer for a longer duration of spark to keep fire on the slow powder for the full duration of pressure rise. Not an extremely fast load at 3150 fps but not lacking in long range performance either. Going to a slightly faster burn rate like 4350 or 4831 might get 100 to 150 fps more velocity but at not only a greater expense for the cost of the powder but and this is a biggie for me higher pressure. Simply put the life span of relatively small bores with big chambers is dependent on the pressures of the loads that are fired in it. Lower pressure = longer barrel life so I have the best combination of cheap, cheaper, and cheapest.
Now to the deer, I have been watching all summer and what I have for resident deer are about 8 WT does with yearling fawns. These are always here and in early morning or evening a little glassing from the roost can usually locate them scattered about the river bottom that meanders along our property. The Red Rock river and Little Sheep creek confluence precisely under but of course to the side of the reapers roost so with the willow brush and cottonwood trees that always follow water here it is a natural run way for WT deer. As I said earlier I save my B tag for the very end of season the reason being the when those does come into estrous the bucks magically appear. This was the case a few days ago when after not seeing any bucks from the roost all summer suddenly on that day there were five and a couple very respectable ones. I had been expecting this because of the way the does were acting. In a group of does when one comes into estrous the others especially the older does will try to chase the doe in heat away from the group. These does want nothing to do with horny ( pun intended) smelly bucks invading their space. This I had been witnessing for a couple days so expected some bucks to be showing soon.
While watching some of these and waiting for one to cross the river so I didn't have to I swung my 10x Swarovski glasses to the top of Red Blough the high point across from the roost at a bit over 1000 yards and just at that moment 4 mulie does crossed over and not one minute behind them a very large 4x4 mulie buck. That mulie buck certainly got my attention as he was moving into the general area of my furthest steel plate at 878 yards. Those 4 does he was following never stopped and he in constant pursuit never did either. Before they were comfortably in range they turned laterally and slowly moved farther and farther away until they were out of sight, DARN !!!
A little after that a decent WT buck re appeared from his brushy bed that I had lost sight of him in earlier. He laid there out of sight in some willow brush for about two hours until the sun was setting and he re appeared at very precisely according to my Swarovski laser 350 yards. Having a very solid rest on bags from the roost I swung the 10x Bushnell mill dot scope on him. My range card said that from the 100 yard zero my rifle is sighted for the correction was 1.2 mills or 12 clicks from the elevation turret that has a .1 mill click value. With the sight correction made and the front set trigger clicked and set for a very light touch of the rear trigger the 100gn Hornady SBT interlock bullet was sent on its way.
The buck was slightly quartering away and my hold was just ahead of where the diaphragm should be and aligned between the front legs. At the shot through the scope I could see the buck kick up both hind legs like a bucking horse then he was out of sight.
By the time I got down from the roost and put my gear away and over to ware I last saw the deer it was getting pretty dark. I walked along the edge of the river where he would have crossed and although there were plenty of tracks there were none fresh from just moments before. I decided to align myself with the roost that I could plainly see and start from the last spot I saw the deer. Well there he was right there at the edge of the river bank just one jump from where he was when I shot.
Using what light there was left as quick as I could I got him gutted out and found that the 100 gn Hornady bullet had penetrated well as it usually does and had traversed the upper body and had centered the heart and lodged at the base of the neck. I found the bullet that is a perfect classic mushroom so excellent performance from a proven old friend.
That one kick I saw him make was his last and even though heart shots usually run a little ways this one just made the one kick and piled up.
Well that it for my A tag and I just have one B tag to fill now. I will keep watching the does and hope to take the one barren doe that has been a summer resident. She is a little more grey in the muzzle and is the only one that did not bare last spring so likely the best choice to fill my B tag.
I hope everyone that reads this has as good a season as I am having!
Blessings !
I do most of my deer hunting from The Reapers Roost that I have in the past posted pictures of and so called because I shoot chuck all summer from this tree stand that is maybe 25 yards from my front door. The very sturdy stand is in a very large cottonwood tree and has a shooting bench complete with sand bags for making precise shots on chucks to the max distance I have steel plate sighter targets set at 878 yards. Shooting chucks all summer from the reapers roost is kind of the proving ground for rifles, loads, and ballistic data for precise sight corrections.
The early fall has had me testing loads from a fairly newly acquired rifle I purchased from an estate. It is built on a 1909 Mauser 98 with a semi heavy 27" barrel of unknown make chambered for the 6mm-06 with a 1/10" twist rifling pitch. Of all the calibers and chamberings I have used in my fur hunting over the years this has become a favorite. I would prefer a slightly faster twist rate but I can live with 1/10".
A long time favorite 6mm bullet for barrels with 9 to 10" twist is the Hornady 100gn SBT interlock. For a standard non premium bullet this one is tough and has always given very good penetration when used on game as large as elk and at the same time is not too destructive for hide hunting. This 100gn bullet has enough mass to utilize the very slow surplus powders when coupled with a case large enough to house an adequate volume to get respectable velocities . The 6mm-06 case is large enough and the 27" barrel of this rifle is long enough to take full advantage of the very affordable surplus powder in this case WC-870 from Jeff Bartlett at about $70.00 per 8 pound keg. The charge that takes a little vibrating to get into the case and still have room to seat a bullet is 63gn WC-870 with a magnum primer for a longer duration of spark to keep fire on the slow powder for the full duration of pressure rise. Not an extremely fast load at 3150 fps but not lacking in long range performance either. Going to a slightly faster burn rate like 4350 or 4831 might get 100 to 150 fps more velocity but at not only a greater expense for the cost of the powder but and this is a biggie for me higher pressure. Simply put the life span of relatively small bores with big chambers is dependent on the pressures of the loads that are fired in it. Lower pressure = longer barrel life so I have the best combination of cheap, cheaper, and cheapest.
Now to the deer, I have been watching all summer and what I have for resident deer are about 8 WT does with yearling fawns. These are always here and in early morning or evening a little glassing from the roost can usually locate them scattered about the river bottom that meanders along our property. The Red Rock river and Little Sheep creek confluence precisely under but of course to the side of the reapers roost so with the willow brush and cottonwood trees that always follow water here it is a natural run way for WT deer. As I said earlier I save my B tag for the very end of season the reason being the when those does come into estrous the bucks magically appear. This was the case a few days ago when after not seeing any bucks from the roost all summer suddenly on that day there were five and a couple very respectable ones. I had been expecting this because of the way the does were acting. In a group of does when one comes into estrous the others especially the older does will try to chase the doe in heat away from the group. These does want nothing to do with horny ( pun intended) smelly bucks invading their space. This I had been witnessing for a couple days so expected some bucks to be showing soon.
While watching some of these and waiting for one to cross the river so I didn't have to I swung my 10x Swarovski glasses to the top of Red Blough the high point across from the roost at a bit over 1000 yards and just at that moment 4 mulie does crossed over and not one minute behind them a very large 4x4 mulie buck. That mulie buck certainly got my attention as he was moving into the general area of my furthest steel plate at 878 yards. Those 4 does he was following never stopped and he in constant pursuit never did either. Before they were comfortably in range they turned laterally and slowly moved farther and farther away until they were out of sight, DARN !!!
A little after that a decent WT buck re appeared from his brushy bed that I had lost sight of him in earlier. He laid there out of sight in some willow brush for about two hours until the sun was setting and he re appeared at very precisely according to my Swarovski laser 350 yards. Having a very solid rest on bags from the roost I swung the 10x Bushnell mill dot scope on him. My range card said that from the 100 yard zero my rifle is sighted for the correction was 1.2 mills or 12 clicks from the elevation turret that has a .1 mill click value. With the sight correction made and the front set trigger clicked and set for a very light touch of the rear trigger the 100gn Hornady SBT interlock bullet was sent on its way.
The buck was slightly quartering away and my hold was just ahead of where the diaphragm should be and aligned between the front legs. At the shot through the scope I could see the buck kick up both hind legs like a bucking horse then he was out of sight.
By the time I got down from the roost and put my gear away and over to ware I last saw the deer it was getting pretty dark. I walked along the edge of the river where he would have crossed and although there were plenty of tracks there were none fresh from just moments before. I decided to align myself with the roost that I could plainly see and start from the last spot I saw the deer. Well there he was right there at the edge of the river bank just one jump from where he was when I shot.
Using what light there was left as quick as I could I got him gutted out and found that the 100 gn Hornady bullet had penetrated well as it usually does and had traversed the upper body and had centered the heart and lodged at the base of the neck. I found the bullet that is a perfect classic mushroom so excellent performance from a proven old friend.
That one kick I saw him make was his last and even though heart shots usually run a little ways this one just made the one kick and piled up.
Well that it for my A tag and I just have one B tag to fill now. I will keep watching the does and hope to take the one barren doe that has been a summer resident. She is a little more grey in the muzzle and is the only one that did not bare last spring so likely the best choice to fill my B tag.
I hope everyone that reads this has as good a season as I am having!
Blessings !
